Dwyane Wade

LeBron James and the Miami Heat are off the NBA Finals for the third straight season, with their series against the San Antonio Spurs set to get underway on Thursday. SI’s Ian Thomsen joined Toucher & Rich on Tuesday to discuss the series, and shoot down a Ray Allen rumor.

Game 7. Eastern Conference Finals. The last time the Miami Heat were in this situation, they were coming off a convincing Game 6 win in 2012 and blew out the Boston Celtics 101-88. What a difference a year makes.

LeBron James scored 30 points, Udonis Haslem made his last eight shots on the way to a 16-point night, and the Miami Heat used a dominant third quarter to turn things around and beat the Indiana Pacers 90-79 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday.

The Miami Heat are going to have quite a challenge in front of them from the opening tip of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami must find a way to once again play a near perfect half against the defensive-minded Indiana Pacers.

The Miami Heat have struck first in the NBA finals. LeBron James scored 24 points for his first win in five finals-game appearances, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the title series Tuesday night. The Heat trailed by eight points early in the third quarter before pulling away.